Forced into uselessness
Our society deems them a nuisance
Retiring them to the annals of history
Gone are the days they were revered
Only a culture of arrogance would discard their wisdom
Trusting instead in the coldness of technology
This is our way, leaving them out in the cold
Entombing them before their time
Never seeing beyond the length of their years
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Old dogs learn new tricks
Though maybe not as quickly
Patience a virtue
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
How fragile the body is,
Abused in youth…
Cigarettes, whiskey and lust.
No worries,
It will last forever…
Agile and strong.
Foolish we are in our early years
Believing we are invincible.
Then suddenly we awaken,
Backs ache,
Knees crack,
Eyesight weakens;
Who is this elder in the mirror?
Perhaps the best we can do is to live well,
Saving a piece of this body for old age.
The day the first pains arrive
Is the day we finally realize
…We aren’t immortal.
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Invincible youth
Passes in the blink of an eye
Inevitable
As it always has with age
Though not always with wisdom
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
Outside–
You see a face,
Weathered, showing the wear of time,
Wrinkles carved like dry rivers
Affixing character to a once youthful landscape.
~
Soft skin hands, wipe the sweat from the brow,
Long since retired from hard work,
Thin and gnarled,
They are more bone than flesh,
Still their past loveliness remains.
~
Hunched, from the years
And back breaking work
It’s a struggle just to stand up,
Yet there is nary a complaint uttered
Thankful just to have lived.
~
“Come with me”, said in whispered tone,
Taking a frail trembling arm in compliance,
Photographs yellowed, faded show glorious youth,
Beauty, fifty years past gleams brightly in your eyes
Though the blue is less brilliant.
~
“This was me”, as if unrecognizable
Pointing with an arthritic finger
Leading to story upon story.
“You see a face…”, spoken with a smile,
“But I am so much more…”
~
~~ Dominic R. DiFrancesco ~~
By D. R. DiFrancesco
~~~~~~
Black hair gone thin and gray
Creases like dry riverbeds map the landscape
Winding effortlessly south
Either due to age or gravity or both
Dark olive skin, soft tautness lost to the years
Tired eyes struggle to catch the light of day
Once clear as crystals now foggy and uncertain
Reminiscent of the mist that envelops San Diego Bay
Memories of youthful virility invoked smiles and stories
Tales etched with vivid language
Language and reference not correct in todays world
Friends and acquaintances identified by race, creed and color
Shocked and amazed erupting in uncomfortable laughter
A likely product of the prejudice thrown at your feet
First breath drawn at the turn of the last century
Born of a race not so easily accepted
Unkind names and slurs labeling an entire lineage
Times had changed leaving you behind
Floundering as if in seizure
Living in an era that was foreign
Still there was no shame, no offense or ill intention
No defense levied for your words and actions
None was needed, none was desired
Age and time granted societal clemency
Few were left who lived the history
Fewer still survive to remember
Relegation to the page is approaching with haste
Embrace them while the opportunity affords
Cherish the time shared and knowledge imparted
Passing it down to the generations that follow
Meandering as if in a dream I pondered..,
Cracks in sidewalks,
Separated like so many loves,
Askew from the tempestuousness of life,
Weeds poisoning their once sturdy frames,
Concrete strewn about like Mayan ruins,
Overgrown and forgotten, buried over time,
Crabgrass claiming their souls,
Once virginal, pristine, blinding in their starkness,
Now greyed and weathered, crumbling with age,
Discarded as trash,
The pieces left for someone else to pick up.
Awakened, with tears in my eyes I realized…,
We are not so unlike the lowly sidewalk.
We have left our elders trampled, aging and broken,
Put in the care of strangers,
Forgotten and buried in time.
Be it the mason or our maker,
This is not what they envisioned,
Abandonment and neglect of their masterpiece.
Time humbles the man,
Back arching under the weight of a lifetime,
Old photographs,
A reminder of good friends and loves that long ago passed.
The mind drifts,
Not as sharp or quick witted as it once was,
Long gone memories much fresher than today,
Then again, yesterday fits me much better.
Hair gone white,
Deep creases travel like dry river beds across my face,
Skin soft and sagging,
Looking in the mirror I can scarcely recognize myself.
Who is that old man staring back at me?
Drawn and tired,
Teeth yellowed, eyelids hanging like cheap suits,
I know it’s me inside this costume.
The crumbling exterior,
A vessel for a lifetime of wisdom and experience.
Earned through pain, suffering, love, and joy,
A gift wasted on the young.
None of this would I trade for the impetuousness of youth,
Born of blood sweat, and tears,
Etched in my face as a reminder,
A badge to be worn with honor.
Dom DiFrancesco 